To most people it might look like an ordinary rubber-band ball that you pick up at the office supply store.
To my overwhelmed pandemic-crazed mind it represented a huge breakthrough.
I sat at my desk in January 2021 with my head in my hands, my mind completely frozen. With three businesses in three different industries the endless barrage of COVID induced pandemonium was taking a toll on my mental health. Daily the proverbial cards were tossed up in the air and however they landed was how we played the game. The next day we could expect a whole new set of cards. Solid ground was hard to find.
As I sat there wondering which card I was going to pick up and play for the next hour, I noticed my multi-colored rubber-band ball taking up space on my desk. “What a jumbled up mess!” I thought, “just like my mind!” That’s when it hit me – my mind, my life for that matter, was behaving like that rubber band ball. Wound up so tight, no room to think, bouncing in all directions – what if I resolved to sit still long enough to remove one rubber band, one thought, from the mess and sit with it for a bit? Instead of speeding up every day, I decided to slow it down. I could take time to stretch that band all the way out, thoughtfully consider all its possibilities, estimate how far it could fly and then launch that puppy into orbit.
That’s exactly what I started to do. On that day in January 2021, I slowed down long enough to recognize the overworked condition of my mentally-cluttered mind. I resolved to take action. One by one I removed a rubber band aka a-jumbled-up-thought, pulled it back, studied it and took action. I worked through professional issues like how can I create a strong niche within my real estate business, or personal issues like developing a morning routine that sets my mindset for the day.
Just like reorganizing a messy closet with both work and leisure clothes, I began to declutter my mind back into a place of joy, peace and productivity instead of relentless busyness. Does it still get messy sometimes? Absolutely, but now I know exactly what to do to bring the order back. Here are three tips to help clear out our mental clutter and get back on track with a transformed mindset that will take us wherever we dream of going.
Much like cleaning out our closet after a long season of neglect, we must pull everything out of our mind and into the open. Lay it out and decide what thoughts to keep, what to store away and what to take to the curb.
How do we do that with our mind?
Take an afternoon or a weekend of distraction free time. Can’t free that much time up? Set aside an hour every evening before bed to start the thinking process. Wherever you can, find the time to get serious about this crucial step.
Next, let’s organize our thoughts on paper in a way that makes sense. I like to categorize with my six F’s – Family, Friends, Finances, Fitness, Fun and Faith. Thought download what’s cluttering up our minds in each of these areas. Consider what thoughts or ideas are worth holding onto, what needs to be placed on hold, and what is holding us back.
Listen carefully here. We’ll draw a line through the items on our newly formed list that we have absolutely no control over. Evict those thoughts from our minds – they make terrible tenants!
Of the things that are worth holding onto – our dreams, a healthy lifestyle, financial goals – what could we start working on right away? and what may need to be put aside for a period of time? Focus on the one thing that by working on that everything else will become easier to accomplish.
As I did this in my own life, it felt like my mind was quite literally loosening up. What was taking place mentally, I actually felt physically through stress and worry reduction. My thoughts were no longer a piled up mess, but rather put into their proper place. Peace was beginning to be restored.
I had to do some hard work of elimination. Getting rid of my worries and doubts that I had zero control over was a huge learning curve for me. I encourage you to examine each item that you have identified and decide whether it deserves to occupy real estate in your precious mind. You may find that there are issues that are deep seated and difficult to work through on your own. Perhaps it’s time to seek help from a therapist or counselor. I’ve done that on a few occasions and found it tremendously helpful.
If you are someone who has always struggled to use a good planning system consistently, working with a coach for guidance, strategies and accountability will do wonders for your mental health and achieving your life dreams!
At LEAD My Life www.leadmylife.com, members utilize my proprietary Growth Series 90 Day Planner with Purpose to bring the chaos of life into order. It’s an interactive planner I designed to simplify our busy lives. Mental clutter demystified!
When you sit down to work do you have to put everything in its place first? Like a dog who circles his bed a hundred times before he decides to settle in, giving all our items their rightful home makes a nice landing pad for our day. We want our work environment to be free from clutter before we begin to save the world!
When our physical space is disorganized it doesn’t take long for that to translate over to our mental health. It is a constant visual reminder that we have unfinished tasks to complete, disorganization in our life and a lack of control. Over time that translates into feelings of stress, anxiety and distraction. In this case what is happening on the outside, directly impacts our inside well being.
The obvious answer is to work on decluttering your physical environment so you can be the most productive you. However, sometimes that in itself has become so overwhelming that we feel paralyzed to do anything. If it was that easy, we would have done it!
Consider breaking it down into bite-size pieces and conquer one area at a time. If you simply don’t know where to start this is the perfect time to make an investment in you! Hire a professional organizer, like Home Savvy Organizing https://www.hmsavvy.com/ to come into your home or work environment and help bring things from chaos to order. That may seem like a luxury or a huge expense, but think of the productivity you’ll gain by being free from clutter! That’s an infinite R.O.I on restoration of your mental peace.
As we start the mental decluttering of our thoughts, we should be starting to sense some space in our once cramped minds. It feels amazing like stepping out of a crowded room into the open air. Next up is how do we maintain this loving feeling? The answer is consistent and regular mindset maintenance.
I love walking into our home right after we’ve had it professionally cleaned. It’s like an instant stress reducer. Instead of walking in thinking of all the chores I need to do, the slate has been cleared. The same goes when we have developed the discipline of cleaning our mental house. And just like we want to keep our freshly cleaned house free from new clutter, we want to do that for our mental health as well.
Don’t allow the mind-dust to build up, sweep often. Be aware of negative thoughts that threaten to take over, discover the root of them right away. Hold onto the good and let go of those thoughts that don’t serve you. Podcast host and author, Ed Mylett talks about anchoring the positive thoughts and emotions we want to keep by a snap of our fingers when we are experiencing them in the moment. On the contrary, when we are dwelling on a negative thought we can visualize scratching it out. Doing this regularly will begin to “mark” the items we want to keep inside our mental home.
Focus on developing a daily personal growth plan. We have a choice of what we allow to take up residence in our minds. Choose the actions that allow you to move ahead in life. Journaling finally took hold as one of my favorite habits when I realized there was no right or wrong way to do it. It was my journal! Some days I would write a single word like “intentional” in the center of the page and brainstorm around it. I’d write quotes, definitions, synonyms, bible verses, personal applications all focusing on “intentional”. Some days I’d write down notes from a book I was reading, or speech topic ideas. I’d write down my prayers, favorite scriptures, anything that was helping me to make better choices in my life.
I’m always amazed at the incredible healing powers of a thirty minute walk outside or a break to go for a quick ride. I’ve had days where I put my nose to the grindstone and barely looked up from a project. On those days my mood goes downhill fast. I’ve learned to work in set time blocks and allow buffer spaces in between for a walk outside or sets of resistance type workouts.
One of my personal favorite buffer zone activities to keep my mind and body active all day long is my 5 x 100 sets. Everyday I’m committed to doing 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats, and 100 lunges on each leg. I do this in sets of 25 each and it takes me about 15 minutes to work through all 4 exercises. Some days I’ll add weights with it or use my BOSU trainer or bands. I love to mix things up! After working through an hour time block I hop up and do one full set. Returning to my work I feel energized, my blood is pumping and my mind is clear.
What about mental exercise? Lifelong learning is an absolute necessity to keep you mentally healthy. Have a plan in place for your learning and reading. Read books toward what you are seeking to accomplish in your life. You will be amazed at how your world will begin to expand in a short amount of time. Conversations with others will become much more meaningful and opportunities will open up to you that did not exist before.
Our mind is an incredible gift and our greatest asset. It houses the ability to create, dream and take action on whatever we can conceive within it. We must treat it with the utmost care and respect. I encourage you to take one idea, stretch it out, consider the possibilities and let it fly.
